Research Program

The Research Training Group (RTG) examines the emergence of world politics as an arena for political action,
communication and observation. Situated in a broadly understood, interdisciplinary field of international political
sociology, it regards world politics both as a specific form of organizing relations among political actors, and as a
framework of political communication, observation and comparison - among states as well as other actors. The RTG
investigates the mechanisms and forces, as well as the struggles and resistances, that have led to the establishment
of world politics as a specific form of politics that does not sit somehow `above´ nation-states, but in fact emerges
concurrently with the modern form of the (nation) state and the normative ordering principle of sovereign equality
that, in turn, is enshrined in the evolving law of nations (international law). In this context, the RTG adopts,
and critically reflects on, a world society perspective, in order to analyze and explain the dynamics that underlie
the processes of modern state formation on the one hand, and the structuration of the global political field in which
states are embedded on the other hand. Rather than aiming to develop a model of state-formation by reconstructing
particular histories of state-building, the RTG inquires how the emergence of world politics has been (and still is)
both a corollary of, and a precondition for, the constitution of modern states.

The starting and common theoretical point of reference for the RTG is an understanding of world politics according to a
theory of world society. World politics is a specific form of politics that does not somehow sit `above´ other forms
(e.g. environmental, British, Bavarian, local etc.), but is differentiated from these other forms in more functional
terms. Nonetheless, the RTG remains open towards other theoretical approaches, as well as for theoretical assumptions
being challenged in debates about theory and in the light of the results of empirical research. Thus, the theoretical
starting point does not pre-determine the shape and structure of world politics as a field in which manifold political
processes take place. The designation of world politics as both a `field´ and an `arena´ is intended to signal this
openness, and the fact that the exact characteristics of what is emerging does not only depend on the kinds of
structures that have formed, but also on how they are observed.

The Emergence of World Politics

`Emergence´ does not refer to a finished process. It entails the idea that world politics is characterized and formed
by varying densities of different kinds of interaction over time, but is also an ongoing experimenting with different
forms of organization. It points to processes that are characterized by different kinds and intensities of struggle,
mobilization, and contestation.

World politics does not - as is particularly sometimes suggested in narratives referring to the Peace of
Westphalia - emerge in a social (and historical) vacuum. To account for its social environment, the RTG conceives
world politics as the result of processes of social differentiation. Unlike the approach still prevalent in
International Relations and neighboring disciplines, world politics is not conceptualized as something located on a
level somehow `above´ local, national, regional etc. politics. Rather, world politics is analyzed as a distinct form
next to other forms of politics, mirroring an internal differentiation of the political system. Tangible features of
that differentiation include the emergence of political roles dedicated to world-political communication and the
emergence of a world public opinion that cannot be understood as the sum of national public spheres. Such an approach
remains open for empirically observing different forms of social differentiation within world politics (for example,
the segmented order of sovereign states, the core-periphery order of empires, the stratified order of great vs. small
powers etc.). While the RTG places the emergence and evolution of world politics in the context of a wider social
environment, it remains open to different specifications of this environment. Theories of world society or accounts of
global history are the obvious candidates for identifying and analyzing that social environment. It is a central
integrative task and objective of the RTG to reflect on the relative merits of different theories of world society and
accounts of global history particularly in the light of research on the emergence of world politics. These theories
and accounts, as well as the dialogue between them, serve as theoretical-conceptual reference points for the RTG. The
RTG is designed in a way that requires doctoral researchers to reflect on their work in the light of these theoretical
discussions and to contribute to them, but is also designed so as to facilitate theoretical discussions in close
conjunction with postdoctoral researchers and PIs, and thus are not an additional burden for individual projects.

Research Streams

Research in the RTG is primarily organized in two research streams, respectively defined by an angle of inquiry more
oriented towards the consolidation and transformation of structures and norms in modes of organizing world politics, and
an angle more oriented towards semantics and the construction of meaning more broadly in modes of observing world
politics. Both research streams are by no means conceived in exclusive terms. Their distinction is one of analytical
nature, and they necessarily refer and relate to each other.

The RTG's first research stream is concerned with changing patterns of interaction among states and other types of
actors (most notably international governmental and non-governmental organizations, but also companies, mass media etc.)
in modes of organizing world politics. The second research stream complements this perspective with a view on changing
modes of observation in world politics. Interaction and the formation of structures that are analyzed in the first
research stream do not take place in a social vacuum. World politics exists because there is communication about world
politics. This basic `constructivist´ assumption means that semantics, symbols, rituals, narratives etc. are necessary
for the `making´ of world politics. Semantics, symbols, rituals or narratives provide descriptions of world politics,
such as notions of the international order, mankind, or human rights. These descriptions may then inform observations
by actors as they try to make sense of world politics.

While each research stream privileges a distinct perspective, substantive overlaps are expected to be significant and
are highly welcome. Both lines of research will be pursued with a strong emphasis on theoretically grounded empirical
research, with varying degrees of emphasis on historical and comparative research. The nineteenth and twentieth
centuries will be of particular relevance for such an endeavor, as interaction and mutual observation have not only
intensified during this time period, but also changed dramatically due to technological innovations in communication
and transport as well as in military capacities. It is a major aim of the RTG to trace those changes and to analyze
how the structure of world politics has been shaped by those innovations.

Participating Disciplines

In terms of research fields and disciplines, the RTG covers International Relations (IR) as a distinct sub-discipline of
political science, and particularly IR´s relatively new sub-field of international political sociology. It approaches this
subject by enlisting a range of approaches from IR/political science, sociology, history, and law. To the field of IR it
adds an understanding of the historically contingent and relatively recent character of international politics,
participating in and thematically expanding the recent turn towards historical sociology more generally and the role of the
nineteenth century in forming modern international relations in particular. To sociology it adds an understanding of
international relations as a specific form of social relations largely ignored by the discipline thus far. The exchange
between world society and global history approaches is of particular interest as both these approaches have not engaged in
substantive dialogue yet, although world society approaches obviously depend on a historically deep account of social
evolution, and global history still requires more comprehensive theoretical accounts of change. Legal scholars tend to focus
on those fields where substantive normative structuring has taken place (e.g. human rights, lex mercatoria) but struggle to
get a grip on a global social system that does not seem to rely on the kind of systematic and encompassing normative order
that nation-states provide.

07/06/2018:
Workshop with Jennifer Pitts (Chicago)
Workshop jointly organized with the Bielefeld Graduate School in History and Sociology on "Boundaries of the International" held by Prof. Dr. Jennifer Pitts (University of Chicago)

10/04/2018:
RTG newsletter was launched
The RTG successfully launched its newsletter. The first issue is now available online. The newsletter provides an overview of past developments and events of the RTG and informs about future events. The next issue is expected to be published at the end of the summer semester.

02/03/2018:
New doctoral researcher joined the RTG
On 01 March, Karlson Preuss took up his position in the Research Training Group. In his doctoral dissertation, he focuses on "The Unwritten Constitution as an Intersection between Global Law and World Politics".

19/12/2017:
A touch of world politics in Bad Salzuflen
The RTG participated in the Annual Retreat of the Institute for World Society Studies on 14 and 15 December 2017 in Bad Salzuflen. More.

08/11/2017:
Guest lecture by George Lawson (LSE) on 28 November
>We would like to invite you to the Guest lecture "Global Historical Sociology" by Dr. George Lawson (LSE) on Tuesday, 28 November at 18:15 in room no. X C3-107.

27/10/2017:
RTG "World Politics" officially launched
Ten international young scientists and eleven principal investigators will investigate the emergence of world politics as a specific type of politics from an interdisciplinary perspective. More.

13/10/2017:
Official Opening of the RTG on 24 October
We would like to invite you to the Official Opening of the RTG and the guest lecture "'Lies are the Law of the World!' News and Global Media Networks in the Twentieth Century" by Prof. Dr. Heidi Tworek (University of British Columbia, Vancouver) on Tuesday, 24 October at 18:15 in room no. X C3-107.

01/10/2017:
The RTG "World Politics" started on 01 October
On 01 October 2017, the Research Training Group "World politics: The emergence of political arenas and modes of observation in world society" started. Nine doctoral researchers and one post-doctoral researcher took up their positions.